A tool handling device for machine tools is known from German patent publication DE 10 2008 059 422, which has a tool changer including a rotatable tool double gripper that is mounted on the end of a supporting column that can be lifted and lowered and rotated about a longitudinal axis. A mechanical cam gear that has a single drive motor, a cam barrel, and intermediate gearing serves for generating the lifting and rotating movements of the tool double gripper. The cam barrel has a tappet for the rotational drive of the tool double gripper on its upper front. A cam curve is prepared on the peripheral surface of the cam barrel for the lifting movement of the tool double gripper. The supporting column of the tool double gripper, the cam barrel, and the intermediate gearing are accommodated in a housing-like slide that can be displaced on a foundation by means of a motor spindle drive. As the axes of the cam barrel, the Maltese wheel, the intermediate gearing, and the supporting column are successively arranged, the slide has a narrow width so that it occupies a correspondingly small space. However, this known handling device is technically extensive due, for example, to the required intermediate gearing with a Maltese cross drive and both the vertical and rotating motion sequences of the double gripper, the maximally possible travel distance of the device being restricted.